On February 1, 2023, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic (Beijing 2022) released the Sustainability for the Future—Beijing 2022 Post-Games Sustainability Report (the Report).
The Report consists of seven chapters: The Approach to Sustainability, Protection of the Ecosystem, Addressing Climate Change, Implementing Sustainable Sourcing, Promoting Development for the Region, and Enhancing People's Well-being and Sustainability Legacy. It systematically summarises the sustainable model and achievements in the preparation and staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 (Beijing 2022 Games), and introduces the innovative approaches to and practices of event sustainability management, setting a new example for future event sustainability management. The Report displays the following features to the public:
01 Honoring the bid commitments in all respects and displaying the practices to deliver on commitments
Beijing 2022 Games were the first Olympic Games to fully implement the sustainability requirements of the Olympic Agenda 2020 from preparation to delivery. Beijing 2022 attaches great importance to sustainability work. It has delivered on its bid commitments and has made a series of sustainability achievements in environment, region and life.
The Report shows the details of Beijing 2022 and the host city governments to honour their bid commitments. From Chapter 2 to 6, the commitments are cited before each section and corresponding practices and progress are explained in the following sections. In the Appendix, the commitments and achievements are matched with each other to clearly display the results of Beijing 2022, related government departments and stakeholders, which embodies the working attitude and spirit of "Staying true in word and resolute in deed”.
02 Disclosing the comments from stakeholders in various fields to make their voices heard
The Report tracks and responds to the voices of stakeholders by organising diversified stakeholder communication, which is a crucial approach to understanding the expectations and appeals of all parties and realising effective sustainability management.
In this report, the comments of stakeholders from multiple fields at home and abroad, such as United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), IUCN China Office and ISO 26000 Stakeholder Global Network (SGN), on Beijing 2022 Games, is innovatively disclosed at its beginning. Chapter 1, "The Approach to Sustainability”, introduces the stakeholder engagement mechanisms and approaches, which fully displays the effectiveness and farsightedness of Beijing 2022’s efforts to facilitate the transformation of stakeholders from “passive compliance” to “active innovation”.
03 Showing the sustainability highlights and underscoring development contributions
It’s an important part of the preparation and staging of Beijing 2022 Games to “include sustainability in all aspects of the Olympic Games” and “include sustainability within the Olympic Movement’s daily operations”.
The Report sets up two sections: Sustainability Achievements of Beijing 2022 Games and Beijing 2022 Games Sustainability Achievements, which briefly introduce the sustainability highlights and performance in Beijing 2022 Games, such as building ecological competition zones, achieving carbon neutrality in all respects, promoting urban and regional development and improving livelihood. At the beginning of Chapter 2 to 6, contributions to SDGs are summarised. The Report shows the sustainability achievements and highlights in terms of environment, economy and society during seven-year preparation of Beijing 2022 Games by virtue of rich contents. It is a high-quality summary for its exploration in the field of sustainability over the years.
04 Summarising the sustainability legacy from multiple levels to spread its wide-reaching impacts
The exploration of Beijing 2022 Games in sustainability represents China's innovative sustainability achievements, leaving precious sustainability legacies for the whole society.
In Chapter 7, the sustainability legacy created in Beijing 2022 Games is summarised. For the first time in Olympic history, Beijing 2022 has integrated the three international standards, the ISO 20121: 2012 - Event Sustainability Management Systems - Requirements with Guidance for Use, the ISO 14001: 2015 - Environmental Management Systems - Requirements with Guidance for Use, and the ISO 26000: 2010 - Guidance on Social Responsibility. Furthermore, it transforms the sustainability work of Beijing 2022 Games into a Beijing standard, Guidance for Event Sustainability Evaluation (DB11/T 1892-2021).
As a result, a highly efficient sustainability management system was formed, covering top-level design, policy formulation, multi-stakeholder engagement, and a mechanism to supervise and improve sustainability management. An operable, applicable, and standardised Beijing model for the event sustainability management is also initiated. In addition, a variety of legacies have been reserved such as advanced technologies, talent teams and sustainability idea. The Report concludes the sustainable legacy of Beijing 2022 Games in a systematic way, which carries a far-reaching significance to the assessment and dissemination of Beijing 2022 Games’ lasting impact and long-term gains.
The following “quick view” can help us better understand the spotlight of this Report:
Please click here to download the Report.